7 January, 2003

Press Conference

Date: 01/07/02

Latitude: 77° 51’ S

Longitude: 166° 40’ E

Time of weather observation: 11:00 p.m.

Temperature: -1 C / +30.2 F

Wind speed: 3 knots

Wind Chill: -3 C / +26.7 F

Wind Direction: Northerly

Meters of ice collected: 920

Log By Dan Dixon

Today we woke up bright and early at 2:00 am for a Video Teleconference (VTC) linkup with the United States. The reason why we had to do it so early is because South Pole station does not have satellite access all the time and this time of day is the best because fewer people are awake on station to use up the bandwidth. Unfortunately, the satellite video link up was not successful and we ended up doing a conference call via the telephone instead. The call was a success and every team member left at South Pole had a chance to answer some questions from the press. Later that morning, at 12:00 noon, Paul, Dan, and Susan boarded a Hercules LC-130 aircraft headed for McMurdo. As they headed out from South Pole the aircraft flew directly over the Transantarctic Mountains. The view from the aircraft windows was truly exceptional. A few lucky passengers managed to ride the whole way in the LC-130 cockpit, a privilege few get to experience.

Carl, Lynn, and Mark are still at South Pole Station. Mark has some last minute packing of the drills to do and is due back in McMurdo tomorrow. Lynn and Carl have to finish winterizing the trains and are due back on Friday. Winterizing the trains involves, among other things, jacking the CATs up off the snow and de-tensioning the tracks so that they will survive in the severely low winter temperatures.